Extraordinary Tech: ZenFone 5Q Changes The Smartphone Camera Paradigm

Welcome to Extraordinary Tech 2018 Day 6. Join Buchanan, Joelle, Mike and myself on our adventures as we test out some of the best tech available in 2018. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we’ll be showcasing devices that came with us on a cross-country trip this summer, ranging from an outdoor speaker that will change the way you think of sound to a smartwatch that offers the best fitness features at an affordable price. Along the way, we’ll be hosting giveaways of some of the tech featured in this series, so stay tuned!

“Well, let’s see how this works.”

Over the soft crackle of the fire pit and the sizzling of our s’mores, Mike’s skepticism was loud and clear. As a professional photographer and videographer, he was curious as to why Joelle had been raving about the phone all weekend.

You see, Joelle had been glued to the ZenFone 5Q. Every time I’d see her out of the corner of my eyes, she’d be in some coffee shop or near an art sculpture, taking selfies. In the era of social media, the ZenFone 5Q had unlocked her hidden potential.

To be clear, just like Mike, Joelle and I were both skeptical at first of its camera features. Was Beauty Mode just a filter at the end of the day?

Needless to say, we expected to be disappointed. But behind the camera, I felt like a model in a makeup commercial. My smooth skin with no blemishes and wrinkles looked natural and radiant. For someone as unphotogenic as I am, I was happy with both how Beauty mode made me feel and how it framed me. I felt confident in myself.

Joelle instead was drawn in by the dual front and rear cameras. Selfies took a whole new meaning; her vlogs and the stories behind them could unfold in different ways thanks to the wide-angle mode. For her, phone cameras fail to capture space – too focused on the subject, they fail to show the environment. But the ZenFone 5Q captured the floral arch pathway that we were surrounded by, the details of the petals being in perfect balance with our faces.

Front Dual Camera set up allows for wide angle pictures, even in selfie mode

Mike’s reaction was no different – within moments he saw the hidden power of the ZenFone 5Q and appreciated the phone’s Pro Mode. The ability to manually adjusting both the aperture and iso, two features normally absent from a phone camera allowed him to capture the night scene more crisply.

While a little grainy, the scene was distinct and visible:

Buchanan sitting back in his lounge chair, gulping down s’mores after s’mores. Joelle and I across from him, laughing at the unofficial chubby bunny he was winning. And Mike smiling behind the ZenFone 5Q, surprised that the scene was caught with such fidelity.

Bottom Line:

2018 was the year of the phone camera. Huawei’s P20 Pro led the charge with its triple camera set up, but quite a few competitors brought AI to their cameras to take smarter, better quality pictures.

Honestly, the ZenFone 5Q’s Beauty Mode was the feature that sold the phone to me and could probably do the same to any other average consumer.

Yet, the ZenFone 5Q is more than a casual use phone. It comes with features that specifically target more photography-oriented individuals. The Pro Mode shocked even professional photo and videographer Mike and wide-angle mode in both selfie and rear cameras piqued the interest of an upcoming vlogger like Joelle.